I have always assumed it is sustainable development, and I believe, Dr. Shah, you would agree with that.

It is long past time for the Administration and the Cuban Government to negotiate a resolution of this ordeal so Mr. Gross can return home.

Well, we conduct programs in lots of different places without branding or advertising USAID.

On the face of it there are several aspects about this that are troubling.

the entire foreign operations budget is about 1 percent of Federal spending, and the world is rapidly changing.

We should remember that while we debate what USAID is doing in Cuba, U.S. citizen Alan Gross remains in solitary confinement in his fifth year of captivity.

I have seen some of those successes. I have seen your people in the field, sometimes in dangerous conditions, and I applaud you for that.

There is the risk to young, unsuspecting Cuban cellphone users who had no idea this was a U.S. Government-funded activity.

If we did not have our embargo, you would have so many American companies down there, fighting for the chance to do this and very openly doing it, it would have accomplished a lot more than this program did.

There are USAID people who are doing wonderful things that you and I would applaud all over the world, many at great risk to themselves because of the places they are in.

There is the clandestine nature of the program that was not disclosed to the appropriations subcommittee with oversight responsibility.

I completely agree with your concept that we have got to make it possible for the people in the area to do things, to be able to help themselves.

I was optimistic about USAID Forward, and its focus on country ownership and eventually working yourselves out of a job.

We will continue to work on this issue.

There is a way to resolve it, there is ample precedent for doing so, it is in our national interest, and it could be done immediately if the Administration really wants to.

Did we tell the people in Cuba that this was a U.S. Government program?

I think everybody on this panel, both democrats and republicans, have praised you for improving.

Your leadership on behalf of America's engagement around the world on human rights, on civil society, on supporting local institutions...

Here we are, the most powerful Nation on earth, and we act as if we are afraid of a tiny island country.

I know it was in place before you arrived. But do you know whose idea it was?

And its purpose was to influence political conditions abroad by gathering information about Cuban cell phone users to encourage opposition to the Cuban Government.

This one had, this one from the get-go had no possibility of working. That is my problem with it.

And there is the disturbing fact that it apparently activated shortly after Alan Gross, a USAID subcontractor who was sent to Cuba to help provide citizens access to the Internet, was arrested.

I do not see where they have achieved anything. He does not either. That is why he started a hunger strike.

I do not want to over generalize, but these activities are often not the same as building institutions and organizations.